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Medusa (Castlevania)
Medusa (Japanese: メディウサ) is one of the most recurring bosses of the Castlevania series, numbering among the bosses of the very first game. She is a snake woman with magic powers, loosely based on the Gorgon of Greek legends. She appears in many games, often related to the other five original bosses; and serves as the inspiration of the Medusa Heards, one of the most infamous enemies of the series. Boss Battles Medusa's attack pattern is pretty much the same in all the games in which she appears. Her primary powers are her petrifying gaze and her ability to spawn snakes, but she is able to cast many other spells. She mostly attacks by swiping her tail, but she can also wield a sword, a shield and a bow. She appears in most games as the snake-woman described in legends (although she always lacks the bat-like wings of her mythological counterpart). In some games however, she appears as a giant Medusa Head who flies around the screen; (probably a nod to the legend in which Medusa was behaded by the hero Perseus). When defeated, she usually turns into stone and shatters. ''Castlevania/Vampire Killer'' In the first game of the series and its first remake, Medusa appears as a giant disembodied head. She does not uses her petrifying gaze and instead floats around forcing Simon Belmont to avoid contact, and spawns snakes as projectiles. ''Super Castlevania IV'' Medusa appears in the most famous remake of the first game, but is very easy to defeat. She moves back and forth and spawns snakes that slithers on the ground towards Simon, and is able to fire an eye-beam that temporarily turns Simon into stone, paralyzing him and vastly amplifying the damages he takes. ''Haunted Castle'' This arcade remake of the first game presents Medusa as a statue which animates herself to battle the player. She moves back and forth while spawning snakes that slither on the ground towards Simon, and poses little threat. ''Dracula X68000/Catlevania Chronicles'' In these remakes of the first game, Medusa attacks with tail-swipes, either normal ones or spinning aerial ones, with three snakes projectiles, and with her petrifying eye-beam. ''Dracula's Curse'' Medusa attacks with a sword at contact, spawns snakes on the ground and fires a circular eye-beam that petrifies the heroes at contact. If this happens, Medusa will conjure a bow and fire at the heroes until they get better. ''Castlevania Bloodlines'' In this game, Medusa is fought in the final level, after Elizabeth Bartley summons her to stall John Morris and Eric Lecarde. She attacks following a defined pattern but without her signature snakes or eye-beam: first by spitting fire into two interconnecting wave then as a straightforward blast, then by swiping her tail, then by dashing forward several times. She must be targetted between her attacks. ''Rondo of Blood'' Medusa is fought when Shaft summons all the bosses of the original game (minus Death), to wear out Richter Belmont and Maria Renard before fighting them himself. She can prove very challenging and attack with a jumping tail swipe, three snakes as projectiles, and her petrifying eye-beam. ''Symphony of the Night'' Medusa can only be fought if Alucard was able to free Richter Belmont from Shaft's control and enter the Reverse Castle. There, he must track down all the bosses of the original game to gather Count Dracula's body parts and confront him. She is very resilient and can prove quite bothersome. She attacks mainly with a sword and uses a shield to block Alucard's blows. (The shield is useless at very close-range.) She also attacks with her petrifying eye-beam and if Alucard gets struck, she will unleash a very damaging lighting spell. As such it is advised to have the Fairy Familiar around to cure Alucard immediately. ''Castlevania Legends'' Medusa only attacks with a sword and she is fast and swift. If Sonia Belmont stays in the spot in the room where Medusa cannot reach her and attacks at distance, she will not pose any trouble. When she is defeated, her severed head flies away in a nod to her appearance as a disembodied head in some games, and to the Medusa Heads enemies. ''Legacy of Darkness'' Medusa is fought in the Underground Waterway, meaning that only Henry Oldrey and Carrie Fernandez can fight her, as it is a level for them alone. Medusa is pretty fast and mostly attacks by dashing toward the heroes to swipe her tail at them. She can also spawn many snakes on the ground that stick themselves to the heroes to hinder them (if this happens strike with the secondary weapon), destroying the snakes provides items. She will also conjure a bow with which she fires three arrows at once and a shield with which she blocks the heroes' blows, forcing them to strike repeatedly to destroy it. When she fires her petrifying eye-beam, the heroes must jump to avoid it or get encased into stone and left open for an attack. Medusa's tail swipe shatters the stone but there are ocurrences in which she attack with her bow until the heroes die. When wounded enough, Medusa will become able to turn invisible for a surprise attack. ''Lament of Innocence'' This game reveals that Medusa was a servant of Dracula's predecessor Walter Bernhard before working for the Count. She appears as a giant disembodied head with monstrous snake-like features. She flies around mostly over the ground and bites Leon Belmont with her snake-hair, but she can also fly away and attack with streams of venom that poison Leon and must be cured, a large number of snakes, a volley of rocks, and her petrifying eye-beam. Should Leon get turned into stone, Medusa will rebound around the room to deal heavy damages. Portrait of Ruin Medusa is quite powerful in this game and has many attacks. She can dash towards Jonhatan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, wave her tail to harm the heroes, turn her arms into snakes that lunge forwards, conjure a flurry of yellow Medusa Heads that petrify at contact, and fire her petrifying eye-beam. If she manages to turn the heroes into stone, she will take profit of their weakened state to transform into a giant snake and strike them. Order of Shadows Medusa is very agile and spry in this mobile phone game, and can jump over to avoid Desmond Belmont's attacks. he attack with her sword, her petrifying eye-beam and a swarm of Medusa heads to overwhelm Desmond. Medusa Heads The Medusa Heads are flying disembodied namesake heads looking exactly like Medusa's own decaptitated head. The relation between the boss and the enemies is never truly explained but they seem to be a spawn of the snake sorceress. The yellow ones are able to petrify the hero at contact, paralyzing him/her and vastly amplifying the damages taken when under this form. They are hated by many gamers due to their tendency to swarm the area en masse while appearing over and over, their ability to knock the player backward, and the fact they are quite hard to hit with regular weapons. They most often appear in complicated platform sequences to harrass the hero without end, punishing the slightest mistake by making him/her fall from the platform; which means restarting the sequence from scratch at best, an instant game over in a bottomless pit at worst. Gallery Evil Medusa Head.jpg Twisted Medusa Head.jpg Malicious Medusa Head.jpg Dead Medusa Head.jpg Dreaded Medusa Head.jpg Serpentine Medusa Head.jpg Medusa Head.jpg Vicious Medusa Head.jpg Sexy Queen Medusa.jpg Wicked Medusa Head.jpg Undead Medusa Head.jpg Bloodthirsty Medusa Head.jpg Medusa Head.png Dark Medusa Head.jpg Trivia *She was voiced by Mary-Elizabeth McGlynn of Silent Hill fame in Lament of Innocence. External links *Medusa at the Castlevania Wiki Category:Dark Fantasy Villains Category:Video Game Villains Category:Castlevania Villains Category:Game Bosses Category:Female Category:Hybrids Category:Medusas/Gorgons Category:Magic Category:Minion Category:Monsters Category:Deities Category:Giant Category:Immortals